About Hunger

Frequently Asked Questions

Is hunger really a problem in the US?
In the US in 2009, over 49 million people were food insecure, up from 36 million in 2007.1 This means they do not have access to enough nutritious food, for economic reasons. 
Is hunger really a problem at the Jersey Shore?
In Monmouth and Ocean Counties, over 127,500 people sought food at pantries or soup kitchens in 2009, an 84% increase since 2005 as a result of the recession.2
Who is going hungry?
The people most vulnerable to being hungry are the working poor, children, the elderly, and disabled.
Aren’t most people to blame for their own situation?
Some people think that the poor are to blame for their own situation, because they don’t want to work, are drug users or are homeless by choice. The truth is that 50% of households have a job as their main source of income; another 30% list Social Security or disability benefits as their main source of income. Only 6% list welfare benefits as their main income and only 2% are homeless.2  Unemployment, the mortgage crisis and spiraling food and fuel costs have increasingly brought middle income people into crisis and into pantries. They are doing the best they can, but are unable to provide for basic needs like food, rent, or health care on their low incomes.  Mother and Daughter
If people are working, why are they still going hungry?
In the US, a person can work full time and still not earn enough to cover even basic needs such as food, rent, medical bills, clothing, a car, and most recently gas, to get to work.   In the US, 90% of the people own only 20% of the wealth (net financial assets, State of Working America 2006/73). The US has the highest wage inequality of any industrialized nation and the highest overall poverty and child poverty rate, although workers clock in more work hours with fewer days off.
How many children are hungry?
In the US, one out of every 5 children is food insecure1. The US has the highest child poverty rate of any OECD country.3 In Monmouth and Ocean Counties, over 19,000 children receive food from pantries, soup kitchens and other feeding programs.2
How does hunger affect children?
  • Low income children tend to have significantly lower intakes of 10 out 16 nutrients critical for health and normal development.4
  • Hungry children are more likely to be tired, have colds or other illnesses and be absent from school.
  • Hunger reduces cognitive development among children, leads to lower academic achievement and higher rates of school failure.
  • Hungry children are less likely to interact with other people, explore or learn from their surroundings.
  • Hungry children are more likely to suffer from anxiety, negative feelings of self-worth and hostility to the outside world.
How can we end hunger in the US?
See the 2008 National Blueprint to End Hunger.

  1. USDA Economic Research Service Household Food Security in the US 2008, November 2009 at http://www.frac.org/html/hunger_in_the_us/hunger_index.html
  2. Hunger in America 2010. Report for Monmouth and Ocean Counties, New Jersey. Feeding America. Mathematica Policy Research: Princeton.
  3. The State of Working America 2006/7, Economic Policy Institute: Washington DC,
  4. http://www.feedingamerica.org. Differences in nutrient adequacy among poor and non-poor children.